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Shutdown looms on the Hill

The attempt to defund Obamacare, which has almost no chance of being enacted into law, signals that Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy felt the need to take a sharp turn to the right in order to pass a government funding bill through the House. The House GOP leadership’s preferred plan - to attach a non-binding rider to defund the law - was rejected by several dozen rank-and-file Republican lawmakers, in an embarrassing setback for Boehner, Cantor and McCarthy.

“No decisions have been made, or will be made, until House Republican Members meet and talk tomorrow,” Michael Steel, a spokesman for Boehner, told POLITICO.

Rep. Tom Graves’ (R-Ga.) popular bill to both fund the government and delay Obamacare for a year will not get a vote, according to leadership aides.

The new strategy doesn’t come without risks. First, Senate Democrats will move to strip the Obamacare language - and potentially change other items in the bill like the expiration date for funding, and the overall price tag. The House would likely then have to approve a Democrat-approved government funding bill, complete with Obamacare funding, as the nation on the brink of a government shutdown.

House Republicans would like to see their Senate GOP counterparts hold the bill up.